The Olympics officially ended Sunday evening, but for swimmer Ryan Lochte the madness is only just beginning. After Lochte admitted to fabricating a story that he and his teammatesJames Feigen, Gunnar Bentz, and Jack Conger were robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janiero during the Games, he has been facing both personal criticism and professional blowback. Following his interview with Matt Lauer, during which he told the Today show journalist that he takes “full responsibility” for what happened, Lochte began to see the full scope of the consequences of his actions. So far, Speedo U.S.A., Ralph Lauren, mattress company Airweave, and hair-removal-company owner Syneron-Candela have announced that they would end their sponsorship deals with the Olympic medalist. But this is just the start for the former silver-turned-blue-haired charmer, whose behavior used to be written off as “free-spirited.” Now that he’s become a national spectacle and a glaring distraction from Team U.S.A.’s soaring medal count at the Olympics, how can Ryan Lochte recover from something like this?

“His image has drowned to the bottom of the pool,” Schiffer says, painting a stark picture that very much reflects the news of the day. “His career is at an extinction-level threat. I think it has a grenade-like effect on his bank account, because most advertisers are going to look at him like a modern-day pariah.”

Schiffer says Lochte’s best chances of maintaining his image lie “in the chlorine,” where he can try to continue his career as an athlete. Speedo U.S.A. was quick to release its statement, saying that the company would be donating $50,000 of the Lochte’s fee to Save the Children. The swimming-gear maker said it “cannot condone behavior that is counter to the values that this brand has long stood for.”

Certainly Lochte’s “pariah” status isn’t uncommon in the world of high-profile athletics. We saw it with Lance Armstrong in 2012, when the cyclist lost his endorsement from Nike and his chairmanship of Livestrong in a single day after evidence was released that he had been using performance-enhancing drugs.

As his endorsement deals fall through, one wonders if Lochte might turn down an avenue he has pursued before: reality television. In 2013, he appeared on a short-lived reality show called What Would Ryan Do?. Back then, just 800,000 viewers (which dropped to 3,000 by the finale) tuned into to find out what the singular catchphrase-spouting (“Jeah!”), thrift-shop-find-wearing swimmer did out of the pool, but have we changed our minds in the wake of the Great Gas Station Bathroom Non-Robbery? Didn’t the whole gas-station affair and subsequent media fallout feel like reality TV at its best anyway?

There are whispers that Lochte could appear on the next season of Dancing with the Stars, although ABC (and parent company Disney) tends to prefer the stars in the show's casts to have fairly clean images. Perhaps he could turn to another ABC property and become the next Bachelor. Bad boys like Jordan Rodgers seem to rake in headlines when they appear on the ratings juggernaut. Nevertheless, Schiffer says any step into the spotlight would not be a good move for Lochte right now.

“I think the best thing he can do is stay dark and stay in the pool,” he says. “And keep his head down and keep working, working on winning again. But being in TV in those capacities—I think it’s a mistake, because it reaffirms that cavalier, frat-boy-irresponsible image, which is the opposite of what he needs.”

“The last five days have been difficult for our USA Swimming and
United States Olympic families. While we are thankful our athletes are
safe, we do not condone the lapse in judgement and conduct that led us
to this point. It is not representative of what is expected as
Olympians, as Americans, as swimmers and as individuals. That this is
drawing attention away from Team USA’s incredible accomplishments in
the water and by other athletes across the Olympic Games is upsetting.
The athletes and their remarkable stories should be the focus. We’re
extremely thankful of the support and efforts from the USOC,
Department of State and U.S. Consulate General throughout this
process. USA Swimming will undergo a thorough review of the incident
and determine any further actions, per our Code of Conduct.”

The following day, Lochte posted an apology, saying he that he should have been more thoughtful about his actions. “It’s traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country with a language barrier—and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave, but regardless of the behavior of anyone else that night, I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself, and for that I am sorry to my teammates, my fans, my fellow competitors, my sponsors, and the hosts of this great event.”

But this apology, as well measured as it no doubt was, might not be able to hold together the purse strings that often tighten at the first sign of a scandal of this magnitude. For Ryan Lochte, it’s going to be a long road to redemption, and it looks like the best route to take is one that comes with many, many laps in the pool. At the moment, he probably won’t be swimming them in Speedos.

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